Android 4.2 Jelly Bean is now official, following Google’s announcement of the Nexus 4 and Nexus 10. There are a lot of new things to cover, even if it still carry the same moniker. Well! let’s not waste time, and go further to know what the new Android updates have.

Photo Sphere :

The new Android 4.2 Jelly Bean was just announced and one of the most interesting new features is called Photo Sphere. It lets you shoot spherical panoramas, similar to what you see in Google Street View. Capturing a Photo Sphere is easy, you just snap photos left, right, up, down, wherever, and the camera app will automatically stitch them. If it still sounds confusing, check out this video demo by Hugo Barra himself (Android’s Director of Product Management). When you’ve shot a Sphere, you can email it or share it on Google+, all the info required to view the image is stored inside it.

Multiple user accounts :

Android 4.2 Jelly Bean for tablets adds multiple user-support to the OS. This way everyone in the household can have an account, which once logged in, welcomes them to their own homescreen, background, widgets and apps. Even the games keep the individual high scores and levels.

Settings center in the notifications drawer :

The expandable notifications were a welcomed addition in Android 4.1, but now in Android 4.2, you can also take various actions like toggling Wi-Fi, adjusting screen brightness, go to Airplane mode, and more.
To do so, just tap on the icon on the top right once you have the notification drawer on. It took Google a while to copy the time-saving feature that TouchWiz, SenseUI and many other manufacturer Android skins implemented a while ago. Still, it’s good to have it backed in right into the OS.

Google Now is updated :

Google has added a lot of new cards to its Google Now service. It now can feed data directly from Gmail, which will provide new cards, such as package shipments info.

Google Now also got cards for events, restaurant reservations, hotels, and flights. Some of them, like hotels and flights will be location specific. There are also new cards like movie screenings, concerts, stocks, public alerts and developing stories & breaking news.
Naturally, most of them won’t be available world-wide at launch, but make sure that Google will work hard to bring them to more and more places in the future.

Widgets on the lock screen :

Widgets are a major part in Android and now you can assign a widget on the lockscreen as well. Think of the Music player widget on the lockscreen, but now you can assign another one there, so it’s always just a click away.

Wireless TV integration :

Better late than never, finally in this version of Android Google has allows you to wirelessly share the screen of your phone or display with a big screen TV set.

All you need to do is connect a wireless display adapter to an HDMI-enabled TV and then it’ll start mirroring whats on your screen using DLNA. The new feature uses the Miracast protocol for streaming.
It’s another feature most customs launchers had, but is only now making its way to the platform itself.

Gesture Typing :

Forget about Swype, Android’s very own Gesture typing is the new cool kid on the block. It works in a manner very similar to Swype — you just Swipe your finger over the letters you want to type, lifting after each word is complete.

Naturally, the Gesture Typing feature benefits from the already existing Android word prediction, so you can just click on the words the keyboard suggests. This comes in addition to the offline voice typing service that Google offers, which makes for an all-round great messaging experience.

Daydream :

Android 4.2 Jelly Bean isn’t just business and no play. Google has integrated a little feature called Daydream, which is simply a sort of a screensaver. Once turned on, you can set it up to show photo albums, latest news from Google Currents and more when the device is either docked or idle.
Android 4.2 Jelly Bean has a lot going for it, including some minor additions. You can now use pinch-to-zoom in Gmail for enhancing reading, triple-tap to magnify the entire homescreen and the pan and zoom with two fingers, as well as added speech output and gesture mode navigation for the visually impaired users.

Expect Android 4.2 Jelly Bean to start its roll-out once the new Nexus family of devices goes on sale on November 13.